Chapter 19 - Junie's Smallest Secret
Junie had become afraid of doors.
Not every door.
Just the one leading from her bedroom into the hallway.
At night, she wanted it open.
During the day, she wanted it closed.
Adrian couldn't figure out why.
Dr. Lauren Pierce, the child psychologist working with the family, explained that trauma rarely followed adult logic.
“She's trying to control the things she can control,” Lauren said.
Adrian looked through the playroom window.
Junie was arranging miniature animals around a dollhouse.
“She's always been particular.”
“Then this may be an intensified version of something familiar.”
“She doesn't like the ocean anymore.”
“That makes sense.”
“She doesn't even like the bathtub.”
Lauren nodded.
“Also understandable.”
Adrian looked miserable.
“How long does this last?”
“I can't give you a schedule.”
“I'd pay anything.”
Lauren's expression softened.
“I believe you. But recovery isn't something you can purchase or accelerate on demand.”
He gave a tired smile.
“You sound like my mother.”
“Your mother sounds sensible.”
“Don't tell her that.”
During the session, Junie placed a small doll on the edge of the dollhouse roof.
Then she moved another doll behind it.
Lauren watched.
“What are they doing?”
Junie shrugged.
“Looking.”
“At what?”
“The ocean.”
Lauren nodded.
“That's a long way down.”
Junie moved the second doll closer.
Then stopped.
“She's not nice.”
“Who isn't?”
“The tall one.”
“What makes you say that?”
Junie looked at the doll.
“She says mean things when Daddy goes away.”
Lauren remained calm.
“What kind of things?”
Junie thought.
“She says Daddy would love her more if I wasn't there.”
Adrian, watching from another room through an authorized observation setup, felt the words strike him like a physical blow.
Lauren didn't react visibly.
“That sounds hurtful.”
Junie nodded.
“She said I was a reminder.”
“A reminder of what?”
Junie looked confused.
“I don't know.”
She adjusted the doll's dress.
“She said I made Daddy sad.”
Lauren waited.
Junie added, “But I don't think I do.”
“No?”
“Daddy smiles when I sing.”
Lauren smiled.
“That's a pretty good clue.”
Junie nodded seriously.
Then she whispered, “I didn't tell Daddy everything.”
Lauren leaned slightly forward.
“Would you like to tell me?”
Junie twisted her fingers.
“Corinne said something before she pushed me.”
Lauren waited.
Junie looked toward the door.
“She said nobody would believe me because I was little.”
The room went quiet.
Lauren asked gently, “Do you remember her exact words?”
Junie thought for a long moment.
Then she said, “She said, ‘You're just a little girl. Who's gonna believe you?’”
Adrian covered his mouth.
He had heard his daughter accuse Corinne.
He had heard Corinne deny it.
But he'd never imagined Junie had been told in advance that her voice wouldn't matter.
Lauren nodded.
“Thank you for telling me.”
Junie looked worried.
“Was I supposed to say that sooner?”
“No, sweetheart. You told me when you were ready.”
Junie considered the answer.
Then she returned the dolls to their positions.
“Can I make the daddy doll come back?”
“Of course.”
Junie picked up the smaller male figure.
She moved it through the dollhouse doorway.
Then she placed it beside the little girl.
“There,” she said.
Lauren smiled.
“What happens now?”
Junie thought.
“The daddy says sorry.”
“For what?”
Junie looked down.
“For not hearing her the first time.”
Behind the observation window, Adrian began to cry.
Not quietly.
Not in the controlled way he cried at school performances.
He covered his face and bent forward, his shoulders shaking.
He had heard Junie on the yacht.
He'd run to her.
But he hadn't heard the quieter warnings in the months before.
The way she stopped talking when Corinne entered a room.
The way she clung to Celia at family dinners.
The way she'd once asked whether she could stay with Grandma whenever Adrian traveled.
He'd called it a phase.
He'd told himself Corinne and Junie simply needed time.
Now he wondered how many times his daughter had tried to tell him something without knowing the words.
After the session, Junie found him sitting outside.
“Daddy?”
He wiped his eyes.
“Hey, peanut.”
“Why are you crying?”
He considered lying.
Then stopped himself.
“Because I should've listened better.”
Junie sat beside him.
“Sometimes I don't listen, either.”
He smiled sadly.
“I've noticed.”
“Grandma says I have selective hearing.”
“She says that about me, too.”
Junie rested her head against his shoulder.
“Are you gonna try harder?”
Adrian kissed her hair.
“Yes.”
She nodded.
“Okay.”
Then she took his hand.
It was such a small gesture.
So ordinary.
May you like
And Adrian realized that being forgiven by a child did not mean he'd finished earning her trust.
It meant he had another chance to begin.
